Cherry Cordial
by spellwing777
Summary: For Valentine's Day (or, well, the day after); so it may be a tad schmaltzy, but hell, we could all use a little sweetness in this depressing fandom.


For Valentine's Day (or, well, the day after); so it may be a tad schmaltzy, but hell, we could all use a little sweetness in this depressing fandom.

Rorschach was able to conceal the box under his coat for most of the way, but couldn't resist pulling it out once at the corner of 4th and Madison, to enjoy a treat on the fire escape of a dilapidated building. It was toffee, not necessarily his favorite and it made his teeth stick; but he was saving his favorites for later. He perched on the worn iron for a moment, letting the sugar melt and considering his course of action.

He remembered cards and heart-shaped candies in elementary; gifts exchanged among friends. Older, he understood the significance of such gifts; romance bought and sold with jewelry and dinners on the television. He usually sneered at the commercialism, the push to _ibuy, buy, buy/i, _as if material things could really buy love and happiness.

But then again, he usually didn't have someone to buy _ifor/i, _and now with a partner that had shared his name, his life, he felt a strange urge to share something; even if he couldn't share his own name or life, he could wait until the day after Valentine and share a half-price box. He could share, and hope he that the gift was innocuous, that it wouldn't offend him-

(That, maybe, the long handshakes and warm arm on his shoulders meant that this wasn't just a gift to a friend-)

And, well, if not, then he could still share with a friend.

Daniel was half in the guts of Archie, so he couldn't really be blamed for not noticing Rorschach approach. He still felt like an idiot when his polite cough startled him so badly he smacked his head on the metal overhang. He swore and tried to rub the pain away under Rorschach's slightly concerned gaze, flushing red in embarrassment.

"Okay, Daniel?" He said. Thankfully Rorschach wasn't the type to laugh at his misfortune, so Daniel quickly recovered, scrambling up and out from under Archie. His partner gave him a hand.

"Yeah, I didn't even hear you come in." He grimaced, rubbing at his head still. Eventually he paused and looked down at their hands; still clasped. Rorschach finally noticed too, and awkwardly let go. Daniel managed not to smile in amusement at his partner's occasional social failings; if he could manage not to laugh at Dan when he did something stupid-like nearly braining himself on Archie-he wouldn't laugh at his awkward social skills.

Dan brushed past him, breaking the uncomfortable tension, and headed to his workbench for more tools. Rorschach followed him.

"Owlship not operational?" He asked, sounding concerned.

"Just for a little bit." He grabbed a quart of oil. "He'll be good as new in time for patrol."

Behind him, Rorschach 'hurmed' and shifted. He heard the shifting of clothes and turned around to see Rorschach popping the lid on a rectangular, white box. Dan watched in curiosity as he dug around in the contents, finally popping what looked like a chocolate square in his mouth.

Rorschach noticed; and turned the lid so he could see the label. 'Assorted Fine Chocolates.'

"Half-price." He mumbled around the sweet. "Day after Valentines."

He swallowed and rooted around for another, a cherry cordial; his favorite. Set down the box so he could nibble delicately at the bottom and suck out the hyper-sweet syrup. He paused briefly in the middle of enjoying it to cock his head at Daniel.

"Big box." He jerked his head at aforementioned box. "Can't eat it all myself."

Daniel perked up, and looked at the box with newfound interest. "...Any dark chocolates?"

Rorschach scoffed, disgusted. "Can have all of them. Hate dark chocolate."

"More for me then!" Dan grinned, and scooped up some dark-chocolate covered almonds.

They ate a few; Dan watching in amusement at the delicate way Rorschach ate the cherry cordials, and made sure he left those for him, along with any nougats, since it turned out he was also fond of those. Rorschach sat down next to him as he fixed the leak in Archie, occasionally handing him tools and chocolates.

They set the box on the dash once he was fixed, and continued to eat during the entire patrol. This, of course, left Daniel feeling really nauseous at the end of the night, and gladly gave up the last chocolate to Rorschach.

"Sure?" The purple glove hovered over the last, lonely piece.

"Buddy, if I eat any more I'm going to hurl." He groaned, leaning back in his seat. He gave Rorschach an incredulous look as he stuffed his mouth with the last chocolate. "I have no idea how _iyou/i _aren't feeling sick at this point though."

He gagged, and Dan thinks that maybe his friend's constitution wasn't as durable as it seemed. He grimaced, but managed to swallow.

"Coconut." He scraped his tongue against his teeth, attempting to rub off the taste. "Disgusting."

Dan threw his head back and laughed; fixing him a cup of sweetened coffee to help his friend get rid of the taste.

It becomes something of a ritual; an exchange of half-price sweets after holidays. Dan gets him peeps after Easter; and he finds out Rorschach punches holes in the packaging, and eats them once they go stale.* He manages not to be disgusted, because Rorschach gets him a Cadbury eggs and those are always delicious, even if they were a bit melted from being carried in a trench pocket. Halloween is, unsurprisingly, their favorite holiday; and it's an exchange of Milky Ways (for Rorschach) and Reeses (for Dan).

Dan gets them both pecan pie after thanksgiving, and this time he really does get sick; a thug getting in a lucky punch to his stomach and making him hurl all over the sidewalk. Rorschach makes a joke about having room for more pie now. Dan is not amused. Christmas brings in a glut of fudge and candy canes and Rorschach sucks on one peppermint cane all through patrol; shifting it from one corner of his mouth to another like it was a cigar. He would occasionally pull it out and lick the end, sharpening it to a point with a flicking tongue and making Dan squirm.

Valentine came around again, and this time Dan presented him with a huge box full of nothing but cherry cordials.

He offers one, and Dan eats it happily, despite never really liking how sweet they were. Worth it, though, to be able to lay with him on the couch; smiling and watching Walter's unmasked face crinkle in concentration as he eats each one slowly.


End file.
